LANDOVER, Md. (WUSA) -- For all of his faults as a head coach, the much-maligned Jim Zorn's Redskins teams never failed to score fewer than 12 points in consecutive games. And by the time that Washington produced that little for the neophyte boss in Weeks 15 and 16 of 2009, Zorn and everyone else at Redskins Park knew that he was dead man walking.
But here we are at the mid-point of the second season for the Redskins under Zorn's ballyhooed successor, Mike Shanahan, and lo and behold, Washington has produced just 11 points over the past two games. The Redskins hadn't been so punchless since their first two contests under defensive-minded coach Marty Schottenheimer 10 seasons ago.
Last week's 23-0 drubbing by Buffalo in Toronto and yesterday's 19-11 home loss to San Francisco gave the Redskins four straight defeats, matching their longest skid under Zorn, and left Shanahan at 9-15, a game behind his predecessor's mark at the same juncture.
Shanahan has to go 3-5 during the second half of this season just to equal the record that got Zorn fired.
And even that much success might be difficult. The Redskins will surely be the underdogs against Dallas and Philadelphia - to whom they've already lost - as well as to the NFC East-leading New York Giants and AFC heavyweights New England and the New York Jets. Sunday's foe, Miami, is just 1-7 but almost upset the Giants last week and crushed Kansas City yesterday.
If Washington would lose all six of those games, that would leave just Seattle - usually tough at home - and Minnesota, which has been playing better of late and almost knocked off unbeaten Green Bay last week.
So scary as it sounds, it's not crazy to envision the Redskins not winning again and finishing the season with a 12-game losing streak after their surprising 3-1 start.
Sure, Shanahan's popgun attack has been swamped by injuries with receiver Santana Moss and tight end Chris Cooley - each among the franchise's career leaders in catches - and No. 1 running back Tim Hightower all sidelined long-term along with left guard Kory Lichtensteiger with tackles Trent Williams and Jammal Brown also missing time.
But don't forget that Zorn had it just as bad in his second season, losing Cooley, six-time Pro Bowl left tackle Chris Samuels, Clinton Portis (the second-leading rusher in franchise history) and his replacement, Ladell Betts, as well as right guard Randy Thomas and his replacement, Chad Rinehart.
And while Shanahan sent quarterback Jason Campbell packing and has unsuccessfully tried to fill the most important position with Donovan McNabb, Rex Grossman and now John Beck, Zorn was told to make something out of Campbell, who was learning his third offense in three years.
What's more, Zorn inherited Portis and Betts at running back. Shanahan eventually replaced Portis with Ryan Torain - he drafted both in Denver -- and then with the handpicked Hightower and rookie Roy Helu this year.
Since Shanahan took charge in Washington, 22 teams have won more games and two others - Buffalo, which dealt him the first shutout of his 17 seasons eight days ago, and Seattle -- are the same lousy 9-15.
The only teams worse are: Carolina (which whipped the Redskins 15 days ago); Arizona (whom they rallied to edge 22-21 at home in Week 2); Denver; Week 16 visitor Minnesota; Cleveland; St. Louis; and Miami.
And only the Bills, Browns, Dolphins, Panthers and Rams have scored fewer points than Washington's 429 (a 17.9-point average). Zorn's Redskins averaged 15.8 points through his first 24 games.
If Shanahan hadn't gone 114-59 with the Broncos from 1996-2005 including back-to-back Super Bowl titles in 1997 and 1998, he would be under the same pressure to win from Redskins owner Dan Snyder as his predecessor was. By this point in his tenure, Zorn had been forced to relinquish his play-calling duties to Sherman Lewis, who had been calling bingo numbers, not passes or runs.
How much longer can Shanahan live off feats he accomplished in Denver before 21 of his fellow 31 head coaches including Super Bowl winners Mike Tomlin, Sean Payton and Mike McCarthy had yet to run an NFL team? Only Snyder knows the answer to that question.
WUSA-9's Redskins Insider, David Elfin, has covered sports since he was a junior at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in 1975. He is the Washington representative on the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee and is the author of five books on the Redskins including the new "Washington Redskins: The Complete Illustrated History."